“life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel” Horace Walpole

Funding Mr. Jefferson’s University

I go to the University of Virginia, so this article (which I would otherwise overlook) in WaPo on the fundraising techniques of UVA VP Robert Sweeney (and the implications thereof) struck my interest. I found this bit informative:

Fundraisers start with the records of 180,000 alumni. They hone their list using tools including demographic screening software that shows neighborhoods by income, the cars people drive, and so on. They look up public information, such as stock and real estate and holdings. A traveling development officer might ask for “road warrior sheets,” summaries of all prospects for $500,000 or more in a city, and then ask U-Va. volunteers in the region about them.

…

They don’t ask for money. They start by asking how the alumnus feels about the university. Sometimes they invite people to weekend gatherings, on Martha’s Vineyard or in Park City, Utah, to talk about the university’s future.

Often, when calling on people, they’ll hear: ” ‘My partner is Class of ’81. If you think I’ve done well, this guy has knocked the cover off the ball! Let me see if he’s in.’ That happens again and again,” Sweeney said. “All of a sudden, you’ve got all these networks evolving.”

So the database keeps getting bigger and more detailed. Fundraisers identify 20,000 prospects who might give $10,000 or more. Eleven hundred people who might give $1 million or more. Four hundred who could make the top 100 gifts. And 100 who are known as presidential prospects — any overtures to them have to be approved through Casteen’s office.

I’m not too enthusiastic about being tracked like this by my future alma mater. Then again, I guess I wouldn’t complain if they were taking me on trips to Martha’s Vineyard. Apparently this is supposed put UVA on a more level playing field with schools like Harvard and Yale. We’ll see. I’d rather see UVA invest in faculty pay and increasing research resources rather than constructing fancy new buildings like the John Paul Jones Arena or the South Lawn Project–mostly because I have to navigate through a big construction site to get to class. I also don’t like how UVA is buying out the homes of the Jefferson Park Ave area of Charlottesville, changing the whole landscape of the neighborhood, and taking away its charm, I think. I guess it’s all just growing pains for the University. I hope it pays off in the end.